## 4a. Literary Fragment(s)

Introduction

The epic poem Beowulf tells the life story of the Geatish (=a Scandinavian tribe) warrior Beowulf and many of his heroic deeds.

It takes place in Denmark, where the famous king Hrothgar had built a grand hall made of gold. The hall was named Heorot and there king Hrothgar held many feasts and invited all his noblemen and warriors. However, closeby a monster called Grendel lived in the swamps, and he was jealous of Hrothgar and his merry feasts and set out to destroy Hrothgar's happiness. At night, Grendel would invade the hall and kill many men, until nobody dared come to Hrothgar's hall anymore.

Hrothgar asked many warriors to rid him of the monster Grendel, but none succeeded and so Heorot was haunted for years by Grendel.

One day, the young hero Beowulf arrives, and pledges to get rid of Grendel. He and his warriors are received gladly and a great feast ensues. They go to sleep in Heorot that night, but Beowulf keeps guard and waits for Grendel to arrive...

➜ Read the fragments from Beowulf below.
➜ Want an authentic experience? Then watch the video below the text to watch and listen to a modern-day scop (=storyteller) perform Beowulf as it might have been performed 1500 years ago.
➜ Answer the comprehension questions you will find below the text.
➜ Upload a screenshot of your results to Seesaw/Egodact.

Literary Fragment (translated from the Old English by Seamus Heaney)

In off the moors, down through the mist-bands

God-cursed Grendel came greedily loping.

The bane of the race of men roamed forth,

Hunting for a prey in the high hall.

Under the cloud-murk he moved towards it

Until it shone above him, a sheer keep

Of fortified gold. Nor was that the first time

He had scouted the grounds of Hrothgar’s dwelling---

Although never in his life, before or since,

Did he find harder fortune or hall-defenders.

Spurned and joyless, he journeyed on ahead

And arrived at the barn. The iron-braced door

Turned in its hinge when his hand touched it.

Then his rage boiled over, he ripped open

The mouth of the building, maddening for blood,

Pacing the length of the patterned floor

With his loathsome tread, while a baleful light,

Flame more than light, flared from his eyes.

He saw many men in the mansion, sleeping,

A ranked company of kinsmen and warriors

Quartered together. And his glee was demonic,

Picturing the mayhem: before morning

He would rip life from limb and devour them,

Feed on their flesh: but his fate that night

Was due to change, his days of ravening

Had come to an end. ...

[... Grendel kills a sleeping warrior and then turns to Beowulf, and a great battle ensues ...]

... The story goes

That as the pair struggled, mead benches were smashed

And sprung off the floor, gold fittings and all.

Before then, no Shielding elder would believe

There was any power or person on earth

Capable of wrecking their horn-rigged hall

Unless the burning embrace of fire

Engulf it in flame. Then an extraordinary

Wail arose, and bewildering fear

Came over the Danes. Everyone felt it

Who heard that cry as it echoed off the wall,

A God-cursed scream and strain of catastrophe,

The howl of the loser, the lament of the hell-serf

Keening his wound. He was overwhelmed,

Manacled tight by the man who of all men

Was foremost and strongest in the days of this life.

[... the fight continues and nobody can come to Beowulf's aid ...]

... As long as either lived

He was hateful to the other. The monster’s whole

Body was in pain, a tremendous wound

Appeared on his shoulder. Sinews split

And the bone-lappings burst. Beowulf was granted

The glory of winning; Grendel was driven

Under the fen banks, fatally hurt,

To his desolate lair. His days were numbered,

The end of his life was coming over him,

He knew it for certain; and one bloody clash

Had fulfilled the dearest wishes of the Danes.

The man who had lately landed among them,

Proud and sure, had purged the hall,

Kept it from harm; he was happy with his night-work

And the courage he had shown. The Geat captain

Had boldly fulfilled his boast to the Danes:

He had healed and relieved a huge distress,

Unremitting humiliations,

The hard fate they’d been forced to undergo,

No small affliction. Clear proof of this

Could be seen in the hand the hero displayed

High up near the roof: the whole of Grendel’s

Shoulder and arm, his awesome grasp.